SIS Account of @ Deftert into the Craver of Maunt Pefuvins. [Jan. 3, 
twelve feet inheight, whieh it was necefla- 
ry to pais before they could reach the 
Tower declivity. The Lazzaroni, frighten- 
ed, refuted to proceed ; but, being pro: 
miied a doable ducat, avarice got the bet- 
ter of his thmidity ; he {peedily made the 
fign of the crols over fis whole ‘body, 
and, having invoked the Madonna and St. 
Anthony of Padua, threw himifelf, along 
svith C, Debeer, to the bottom of the firit 
precipice: {bon after, they arrived at ano- 
‘ther, but being of LetS height, it was pai. 
fed with more eafe. At length, amidit a 
éontinual torrent of falling lava, athes, and 
Rones, they arrived at the bottom of the 
erater, and ftretched out their arms to us, 
fending forth fhouts of joy, which we re- 
turned with the utmoit @tistattion and en- 
thufiatm. m 
C. Hoatouart, engineer, immediately 
followed C. Debeer, and, after encounters 
ang the fame difficulties, and pailing dan. 
gerous precipices, joined him at the bottom 
of the crater. Being there both convinced 
of the almoft infurmountabdle difficulty 
of aftending, they threw themfelves into 
each other's arms, like two friends reduced* 
to the neceility of terminating their lives 
together in a deiert ifland without any 
hopes of efGaping from it. 
They then bheSan, bur with cautious 
fteps, to walk round this immen/e furnace, 
vehich till fmokes in feveral places. Fhe 
intrepid Wickar, who was very defirous 
to participate in their fate, called out to 
therm to fend fome onctoaflit him in pafling 
the two cliffs; but feeing no.one coming, 
and growing impatient, he rathed forward; 
and rolled down towards them, amidit a 
torrent of ftones, 8ffes, and volcanic mat- 
ters. Adjutant Dampierre, C. Bagneris, 
phyfician to the army, Freffinet and An. 
d@ras, French travellers, and ‘Moulin, in- 
fpeRtoret pots, foon followed, and arrived 
at the crater, after having meurred the 
fame dangers. 
Wickor immediately fat down on a 
heap of feoris, and, with that fuperiority 
of talents for which he is diftinguifhed, 
fketched out in profile, with a perfect re- 
feniblance, the portraits of the eight 
Frenchmen who had deicended. Each 
then formed a firall collection of the diffe- 
rent volcanic matters which appeared to 
be new -or curibus, and endeavoured to 
make a few obiervations. 
Had we been allowed to depend on fuc- 
cefs, had we not been vetarded in our pre- 
parations by ofr timid guides, and if fome 
of us, having only juft arrivetl at Naples, 
had not been firattened in point of time, 
our defcenit would certainly hive been 
much more ufeful, and the refults more 
fatisfatory. However, though ill fur. 
nithed with means, the following are the 
ob{ervations we were enabled to make. - 
Reaumur's thermometer, the only ine 
Rrument we pofleiled, ftood at ra degiees 
on the finmit of Vefuvius: the air was 
cold, and fomewhat moiit: in the erater, 
the quickfilver rofe to 16 degrees, and we 
experienced the mildeit temperature. 
he furface of this place, which, when > 
feen by the naked eye, looking down 
from above, appeared entirely fmooth, exhi- 
bited, when we were at the bottom, nothing 
but a valt extent of afperities. We were 
conttantly obliged to patS over lava ex- 
ceedingly porous, in general pretty hard, 
but which, in fome places; and particu- 
larly thofe where we entered, was fill 
folt, and yielded under our feet. The 
{pectacle which {truck us moft was the 
numerous {piracles, which, either at the: 
bottom of the crater, or the interior fides 
of the mountain, fuffer the vapours to 
efcape. When we atrived at the crater, 
we were defirous to afcertain whether thefe 
vapours were of a noxious quality : we 
walked through them; and inipired them 
ieveral times, but felt no inconvenience 
from them. The therynometer, placed in 
one of theif {piracles, indicated 54 de- 
grees, in another it rofe only toad. In 
all thefe experiments, our inttrument was . 
covered with a humic matter, which was 
foon diffipated in the open air, without 
leaving any traces. Pars 
In traverfing the furface of the crater, 
we perceived a focus, half covered by a 
Jarge mafs of pumice-ftone, and which, — 
from its whole circumference, emitted a 
ftrong heat. The thermometer, placed at 
firlt at the entrance of it, and then im- 
merfed to as great a depth as the nature of 
the ground and the heat would admity 
never rofe higher than a2 degrees. This 
fingularity furprifed us, but.we were not 
able to explain it. j 
The volcanic predu€tions which we 
obferved in the whole crater were lava, 
exceedingly porous, and which the fire in 
certain places had reduced to fcorie.. Et 
was of adark brown colour, and fome- 
times reddifh, but it is rare to find 
white. The fubstances neareit the fpiras 
cles are all covered or impregnated with 
fulphur. 
often in a ftate of oxygenation. It is 
fometimes white, and fometimes of a yelx 
lowith colour, and the tharp and pungeht 
imprefiion it leaves en the tongue futheis 
ently 
This mineral is found very : 
a 
